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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, December 2, 2016 2 By Kyla Brewer TV Media A s Prince William and Kate Middleton tour the globe with their little ones and Prince Harry makes headlines for his re- cent romance, it seems a new generation of royals has revived public interest in the British monarchy. While Net- flix's new hit "The Crown" has been praised for its real- istic portrayal of royal life, another series offers viewers a deliciously scandalous ver- sion. Elizabeth Hurley ("Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," 1997) returns as Queen Helena in the sea- son 3 premiere of "The Roy- als," airing Sunday, Dec. 4, on E! The fictional prime- time soap follows a corrupt British royal family that is nothing like its real-life counterpart. Hurley leads the cast as matriarch Helena, who is still reeling from the events of last season's fina- le. Created by Mark Schwahn, the show is loose- ly based on Michelle Ray's novel "Falling for Hamlet," and, in fact, each episode of the series is named for a line from William Shakespeare's famous play about the Prince of Denmark. Despite some initial misgivings from critics, who scoffed at the over-the-top melodrama of the prime-time soap, the se- ries has persevered, and was renewed for a third season in January. Shortly after- ward, news broke that E! had signed a development deal with Schwahn, indicat- ing network execs had faith in the series, and in him. "We love what Mark con- tinues to do with 'The Roy- als'; he has a natural talent for weaving drama and pop culture and creating sensa- tional characters with mass appeal," said NBC executive Jeff Wachtel when Schwahn signed on to continue with the production. Those sensational charac- ters return in season 3, which consists of 10 one- hour episodes. The season opener picks up two weeks after the execution of Ted Pryce (Oliver Milburn, "The Descent," 2005), King Si- mon's (Vincent Regan, "300," 2006) murderer, who died at the hands of an an- gry mob. Queen Helena is left scrambling to prove that her children, Prince Liam (William Moseley, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," 2005) and Prin- cess Eleanor (Alexandra Park, "The Elephant Prin- cess"), are Simon's and, hence, legitimate heirs to the throne. Unfortunately for Helena and her offspring, Simon's brother — and the country's current ruler — King Cyrus (Jake Maskall, "East- Enders") is determined to make sure Helena doesn't prove the twins' paternity. At the same time, twins Liam and Eleanor have be- come enormously popular, and a #KingLiam hashtag spreads across England as the people support their hero prince. However, Liam is tor- mented by the memory of Ted's execution, and copes with his anger and resent- ment in a dangerous way. Elsewhere, Eleanor struggles to figure out what to do about her relationship with Jasper (Tom Austen, "Grantchester"). Although he once tried to blackmail her, she has fallen in love with him. While fans are no doubt interested in what's going on with the rest of the royal Henstridge family, the real story of the season is the po- tential reappearance of Rob- ert, Liam and Eleanor's pre- sumed-dead brother. In June, news broke that Max Brown ("The Tudors") had been cast as Simon and Helena's eldest child, and true heir to the throne. The extent of the role is as yet unknown, but Robert's reappearance could have big implications for his siblings, mother and uncle. The whole family was devas- tated when he was reported dead in the series debut, and much of what's happened since then has been a direct result of his apparent de- mise. Brown is not the only new face this season. Hurley's real-life son, 14-year-old Da- mian, makes his professional acting debut in "The Royals" as Prince Hansel of Lichten- stein. The cast also wel- comes British actor Jules Knight ("Holby City") as Spencer, the new Lord Chamberlain. Hurley's son's debut and Robert's return has had fans buzzing about the new sea- son, and E! has taken advan- tage of the U.S. election year to promote the series. The show made headlines in Oc- tober with a cheeky promo for season 3, in which Hur- ley's Queen Helena told Americans that England was ready to welcome them back following the November election. "The Royals" has amassed a loyal following of fans, more than 800,000 viewers were tuning in by the end of last season. How- ever, the show hasn't always been a big hit with critics, many of whom panned the show from the beginning. Regardless of what TV critics say, "The Royals" has been reasonably well received by audiences, scoring a 71 per- cent Rotten Tomatoes ap- proval rating. The plot may have people divided, but Hurley's perfor- mance has been almost uni- versally praised, even by the show's staunchest critics. The actress first came to the attention of North American audiences as Hugh Grant's girlfriend in the early '90s, when she wore a daring black Versace dress to the L.A. premiere of Grant's "Four Weddings and a Fu- neral" (1994). More than just a pretty face, she quickly established herself as a lead- ing lady, appearing in such big screen successes as "Be- dazzled" (2000) and the Austin Powers franchise, op- posite Mike Myers. For all her past successes, Hurley's biggest claim to fame may very well prove to be her role as Queen Helena in "The Royals," so don't miss the season 3 premiere Sunday, Dec. 4, on E! coverstory Long may she reign Elizabeth Hurley dazzles in soapy drama 'The Royals' By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Where did Willem Dafoe get his start? A: Not surprisingly, considering his reputation as an actor's actor (and as a guy with weird taste), Willem Dafoe got his start with experimental live theater. He studied acting for a while in university, but soon quit to join an avant-garde acting troupe called Theatre X in his native Wisconsin. He then moved to New York and joined The Woost- er Group, a troupe he continues to work with on occasion. If what you're really looking for is to catch a look at young Willem, you can (barely) see him in an uncredited turn in the 1980 drama "Heaven's Gate," his first screen role. Impressively, his first credited role was as the star. He had the lead role in 1981's "The Loveless," a motorcycle gang dra- ma that's also notable for being the first feature film helmed by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. Just six years after starting out in film, Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar of his own, for his supporting turn in "Platoon" (1986). That solidified his position as a supporting man, though, of course, he's taken some leading roles as well — most notably, perhaps, the title role in 1988's controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ." Dafoe's early, pre-Hollywood years are the stuff of legend — some of which he made up himself. For example, his name isn't actually Willem, it's William — Willem is a high school nickname he chose to hold on to. Speaking of high school, he may or may not have been kicked out for making a porn film with school equipment. We don't know for sure, because he tells the story in two different ways: In a 1997 interview with New York Magazine, he tells a tame version of getting "in trouble" for interviewing an exhi- bitionist for a class video project. But in 2009 he told the Guardian newspaper, "I was expelled from school for making a pornographic film." The truth is probably somewhere in be- tween, but it's worth noting that he did, in fact, go to universi- ty, so he likely graduated high school at some point. Q: I was wondering if MLB ever puts the World Series Game 7 on DVD. I wasn't able to watch this one, but re- ally would like to see how the Cubs won. A: It's a pleasure to write about sports because no one's worried about spoilers. If I were to give away the ending of a TV show that aired in late October, I'd be heckled by angry fans with full DVRs at home. But it's OK to say the Cubs won the World Series. This is a double-edged sword, though: Because it's hard not to find out how a game ended, whether you watched it or not, there's less of a demand for reruns and for home video. Fortu- nately, the World Series is a special occasion, and Major League Baseball has indeed released the final game on DVD and Blu-Ray. It'll cost you, though, because it only comes as part of an eight-disc boxed set with the whole series, along with a bunch of extras and features. That's pretty standard, and MLB still sells sets of old World Series on its website. Want to relive the Minnesota Twins win- ning the series in 1987? The Yankees in '77? They've got you covered. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. hollywoodQ&A

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